Wild Night
by HarvestBeauty
Summary: Jack is down in the dumps and Larry cheers him up in the most unusual way. Jack/Larry friendship, also a groupfic.


_A/N: Sorry for the ridiculous, idiotic story...at least I had fun writing it. I think the holiday spirit has me drunk._

It all started with that telling, special and very specific knock on the door.

Jack sighed. Normally, he loved it when Larry came to visit, but he just wanted to be by himself tonight. He considered it a blessing when Janet and Terri had decided to go out shopping together, leaving him to stew alone in his misery. The girl that Jack had been crazy about had just broken up with him and Jack wanted nothing more than to sulk over it until Kingdom come and back and no one was going to change his mind.

"Come in..." Jack grumbled half heartedly as he absent mindedly stared at the television.

The apartment door opened and Larry came walking in.

"Hiya, Jack!" Larry smiled. "What are you up to tonight?"

Larry's good mood was not reciprocated. Jack muttered something under his breath dejectedly.

"It's nice to see you, too!" Larry joked at the icy reception he received. "What's the matter? Girl troubles?"

"You can say that again." Jack sighed tiredly.

"What's the matter? Girl troubles?" Larry dutifully repeated himself with the slightest hint of a smile on his face, earning an eyeroll from Jack. "Why don't you join me down at the Regal Beagle? I'll buy you a beer, take your mind off of your situation."

"I've had four already." Jack deadpanned. "No offense, but I really want to be alone tonight..."

"Come on, pal. It's not as bad as all that. You've been through break-ups before." Larry tried to cheer him up. "I think I know just what you need."

"A bullet to the head?" Jack sarcastically asked.

"Oh, now you've done it, buddy. I'm not leaving until I see you smile...no, better yet...I'm not leaving this apartment without you. You're coming with me to the bar tonight, one way or another." Larry was determined. "I don't want to hear you talking like that."

Jack didn't say anything. He realized that Larry was going to stick with him like a very cheerful case of the plague. He gritted his teeth, hoping that the silent treatment would eventually bore him into leaving.

"I'm not much of a gambler anymore, but I'll bet you that I'll have you in such a good mood by the end of tonight, that you'll forget all about what's-her-name." Larry informed him. "Plus, I could really use the money."

Larry chuckled to himself at his own joke, which was met with silence by his best friend.

"Jack, are you ignoring me?" Larry asked him, an amused smile gracing his features. This just made him even more determined than ever to cheer Jack up.

Jack's stony silence answered his question.

Smirking to himself, Larry crept over to the record player by the back wall. He was grateful that he was out of Jack's line of vision. He silently flipped through records, searching for a very specific one with a certain song he had in mind. He did it as quietly as he could...he didn't want Jack knowing what he was up to. Jack's ears perked up at the quietness in the apartment. He thought that maybe Larry had gotten the message and had finally left him alone.

When music began to fill the apartment, Jack sighed as his hopes were dashed. He should have known that Larry would go with the musical therapy route.

Larry laughed, snapping his fingers to the beat of the song. The song was Wild Night...specifically the Martha Reeves version and not the Van Morrison one. After all, what could be funnier to Jack than seeing Larry trying to impersonate a black woman?

"Oh, no..." Jack groaned. He knew what was coming. He prayed that God would just kill him now.

Ever the showman, Larry strutted to the beat of the song's intro, moving to the front of the room until he blocked Jack's view of the television set.

Jack sighed.

Meanwhile outside, Janet and Terri were on their way up the stairs and heading toward the apartment. Each girl held a small shopping bag.

"I sure hope Jack is in a better mood! We've been gone over two hours." Terri cast her friend and roommate a hopeful glance.

"I don't think so, Terri. Jack was crazy about this girl that dumped him. He'll take forever to get over it. We're just going to have to walk on eggshells for the next couple of days." Janet sighed, sticking the key into the door and turning the doorknob. She pushed open the door and her big, brown eyes widened. She covered her mouth with her free hand and snickered into it, quickly shutting the door closed again.

"What is it?" Terri wondered. "That bad?"

"Terri, please tell me you have a camera with you!" Janet bit her lip to keep from laughing. Sadly, she knew this wasn't the case and that they'd just have to keep this moment in their memories instead.

"Huh?" Terri was perplexed.

Quietly, Janet cracked open the door a sliver and peeked into the apartment. Curiously, Terri leaned forward to take a look. Janet pushed the door open a tad more to make it easier for the both of them to peer into the apartment at the same time. What they saw instantly caused smiles to come to their faces.

"So this is what the boys do when we aren't home!" Terri whispered to Janet, grinning widely. "Interesting!"

"_As you brush your shoes_

_And stand before the mirror..." _Larry sang along with the record, rather than merely lip syncing the words.

Jack glared at him.

"_And you comb your hair_

_Grab your coat and hat..." _Larry mimicked running a comb through his hair in a manner that would make Danny Zuko proud.

Jack bit his lip to suppress a grin. He was determined to sulk.

"_And you walk the wet streets trying to remember_

_All the while night breezes in your memory ever..." _Larry saw that Jack was about to crack. He decided that it was time to up the hamminess factor. He took a dramatic pause along with the music for a split second, and then raised an eyebrow. Jack wondered what he was going to do.

"_And everything looks so complete..." _Larry looked around the apartment with a bewildered and amazed look on his face, gesturing to their surroundings with his hands. This caused Jack to laugh and smile genuinely, shaking his head at Larry's antics.

"_When you're walking out on the street_

_And the wind will catch your feet_

_And send you flying, flying..." _Larry sang, dancing his way over to Jack. He loved to see his best friend finally smiling again. He didn't care what he had to do to get him there, he just wanted to pull him out of the depths of despair.

_"Ooooo-weeeee..._

_Wild night is calling!" _Larry finished up the first verse, snapping his fingers and grooving to the beat of the song. Jack regarded his friend, his shoulders shaking with laughter. His enthusiasm was contagious and the song was infectious. He suddenly felt energized. He just loved how Larry was unafraid to look totally ridiculous just to make him smile and laugh. Jack covered his mouth with his hand in order to hide his laughter, but he just ended up snort-laughing instead...there was no use. Larry had clearly won this battle.

The boys were still unaware that they had an audience. Janet and Terri were still looking in on them from the doorway. Terri was tapping her toes to the rhythm of the song and Janet was smiling from ear to ear.

"Well, it looks like Jack is in a better mood now!" Janet whispered over to Terri.

As if to illustrate Janet's point, Jack suddenly leapt up from the couch he had been previously moping on. Larry snickered, clapping along to the beat of the song as Jack took over for the next verse, singing loudly and off key.

"_All the girls walk by_

_Dressed up for each other..." _Jack did his best catwalk strut, causing Larry to toss his head back in laughter.

"_And the boys do the boogie woogie _

_On the corner of the street..." _Jack pointed at Larry. Larry took that as his cue to fall to the floor, looking as if he was having some sort of seizure rather than actually dancing. This caused Jack to laugh uproariously, which made it very hard for him to sing along with the rest of the verse, but somehow he managed.

_"And the people passing by_

_Stare in wide wonder_

_And the inside jukebox roars out_

_Just like thunder!" _Jack sang, out of breath from laughing so hard.

The girls couldn't take it anymore. They wanted to join in on the fun too. They linked arms and burst into the room, singing the chorus together.

_"And everything looks so complete_

_When you're walking out on the street_

_And the wind will catch your feet_

_And send you flying, flying!"_

Jack jumped a mile, burying his face into his hands as he laughed even harder with embarrassment. Larry, however, had the opposite reaction. Rather than be embarrassed, Larry's face lit up...the more, the merrier. He jumped up to his feet and raced over to the girls, meeting them halfway. He began dancing in earnest with Terri, twirling her around like a top. Janet began dancing with Jack.

_"Oooooo-weeee!_

_Wild night is calling!" _The boys and the girls sang together. The brief instrumental break came on and the four of them danced, Larry danced with Terri and Janet danced with Jack. The girls didn't quite know what was going on or why the boys were acting so crazy, but they didn't care. This was so much fun. It was certainly nice to see an improvement in Jack's mood from how he was mere hours ago.

Larry took the opportunity to close out the song.

"_Oooooo-weeee!_

_Wild night is calling!_

_Come on out and dance! Yeah!_

_Come on out and make romance!_

_Come on out and dance, come on out and make romance!_

_Wild night is calling!_

_Oh a wild, wild night is calling!"_

Larry continued singing along with the record, making his way over to the door. He was literally singing these words to his friends, waving them over as his eyes glittered with mischief. He was beckoning them to follow him out the door as he slowly backed out of the apartment. He had turned into a literal musical Pied Piper, daring them to join him for a night out.

"_Come on out and dance!_

_Come on out and make romance!_

_Yes! Come on out and dance!_

_Come on out and make romance!"_

The song faded out and Jack, Terri and Janet each traded glances with each other before taking the bait, running out of the apartment to join their friend. The happy and seemingly drunk off of life foursome raced down the stairs single file, running into Mr Furley who was on his way up the stairs with a plunger in his hand.

"Hi, Mr Furley!" Janet called as she whizzed past him.

Mr Furley opened his mouth to say something, but then was cut off by Terri.

"Bye, Mr Furley!" Terri sang as she followed Janet down the stairs. Jack followed seconds later, rushing down the stairs so fast he was a blur. Larry was on his way down as well, laughing and having the time of his life.

"What's the celebration about?" Mr Furley asked Larry curiously.

Larry stopped for a moment to think.

"We're celebrating life." Larry shrugged, smiling. "Hey, why don't you come and join us down at the Regal Beagle?"

"But I have to fix a toilet..." Mr Furley protested.

"Come on, RF! You can get to it after we come back!" Larry playfully clapped him on the back. "Join us for a drink!"

"Oh what the hell, why not?" Mr Furley sat the plunger down on the stairs. "But if anybody steals this, then you owe me a new one!"

"Right!" Larry laughed, still in a joking mood. "I'll get you the best plunger money can buy!"

The foursome then became a fivesome as Furley and Larry slung their arms around each other's shoulders, bounding down the stairs while whistling the theme from the Andy Griffith show. As the party of five made the short walk over to the Regal Beagle, Jack tried to recall what he'd been so upset about earlier in the evening.

He realized he couldn't remember, nor did he care.

THE END


End file.
